College student's parody goes viral

The parody by Brian Schwing, who grew up in Cincinnati and is a senior at Ohio State University, has gotten nearly 4.5 million views and counting since it was posted on YouTube on Dec. 14.

Schwing, a 22-year-old intern at NASA in Houston, directed "NASA Johnson Style," which shows his fellow interns and astronauts at Johnson Space Center dancing like "Gangnam Style" singer PSY and singing altered lyrics about the space agency, written by Schwing.

"Science everywhere, as we engineer the marvels that fly through the air, and take us way beyond Earth's levels," goes one lyric.

The footage was shot throughout the space center, including in mission control, and includes a shuttle launch, space suits and high-tech equipment.

While the video shows students and astronauts clowning around at NASA, the lyrics summarize the important and often dangerous work.

Schwing told the Cincinnati Enquirer (http://cin.ci/159g0lQ) that it took about 200 hours to produce the video, with 15 hours of footage that had to be edited down to just four minutes.

"It turned out to be a much bigger project than any of us had anticipated," Schwing said. "Planning the shooting work with the astronauts and facilities within very limited time constraints also turned out to be quite challenging."

Schwing said the easiest part was writing the lyrics, since he's always had a passion for music, writing and science.

"Since I don't really see my rock star career taking off anytime soon, this is really the next best thing," he joked.

During his time at NASA, Schwing has been involved in a video committee that aims to excite and inform the public about the agency's missions and goals.

He's surprised that his video has gotten so many views, but he said he and the others working on it knew it would be something special when they began the editing.

He hopes the video gets more people -- children in particular -- interested in science and spaceflight.

"I think we are all born inquisitive creatures hardwired with the desire to explore, but sometimes as adults we can forget that," he said.

"Science and discovery are cool, and sometimes it takes kids to remind us of that."

Schwing, a 2009 graduate of Oak Hills High School, has completed three so-called tours at Johnson Space Center, each comprising of an academic or summer semester, and has one more to go before he'll graduate in December from Ohio State's integrated systems engineering program. He hopes to continue his career with NASA.